Rockaby
by Crimson Cutie
Summary: Sand Sib fluff. Temari and Gaara discuss lullabies. Kankuro crashes into a lamp.


Disclaimer: I don't own the sand sibs; they are the wonderful creation of Kishimoto. I also don't own the lullaby rock-a-by baby.

Contains spoilers past chapter 281 in the manga.

Rock-a-by

She heard him out in the hall, pacing. She'd heard him go into the kitchen earlier. He's been in there so briefly, must have decided he wasn't hungry. Then he'd returned to his room, only to head back out five minuets later. She'd knew if she didn't stop him he'd do this all night go to one room then, head back to his room then leave again and so on.

With a determined sigh, Temari rose out of bed and left her own room in search of her wandering brother. She found him exiting the door that led to his office. "Gaara," Temari said gently, "You need to lie down and get some rest." Her youngest brother gave her a look that to an outside observer would appear blank. But Temari had become adapt at reading her brothers face and his slightest change of expressions. She could tell it was his "who are you to tell me what to do" look. Temari had an answer for that; she was his older sister it was her job to look after her younger brothers. She told him this by challenging his look with one of her own. "It's bedtime Gaara," she told him in the same voice she would say to Kankuro if he was staying up too late the night before a mission.

He withered a little under her stare. He saw her point, he knew she was right. Still he put up his own feeble argument perhaps for appearances sake. "I have work to do."

He was leaving the office not entering suggesting this really wasn't the case, but Temari ignored that fact and instead told him, "You can do it tomorrow you'll work better if you're well rested."

"I can't fall asleep." Gaara told her in the same quite calm voice he always used. After fifteen years without, Gaara was unused to sleep and it was not coming easily. It had been an uphill struggle in the beginning, with her and Kankuro doing everything they could think of to send their brother into slumber. They had made some progress but all too often Gaara would almost fall under only to jerk awake in a cold sweat terrified that Shakuku was trying to destroy him. Without the effects of the demon on his system Gaara could no longer avoid sleep, he needed it now and the more sleepless nights he had the more badly he needed this. She'd let him go without for two nights already- tonight he was going to get at least a few hours.

"I'll help you," Temari finally answered. "Come on go lie down and I'll stay right by your side." Gaara gave her a skeptical look but he allowed her to lead him back down the hall and to his room. He climbed into bed and under the covers while Temari pulled his desk chair over by the bed and sat down. Gaara closed his eyes and Temari waited. She watched her brother relax and his breathing slow.

It couldn't have been more than a minuet when he opened his eyes and announced, "It's not working."

Temari sighed and shifted in her chair trying to get her own body comfortable as this was clearly going to take awhile. "Give it a little more time," she told him.

"You said you were going to help me," Gaara pointed out. It was a game they played. Gaara would get annoyed with his older siblings attempts to force him to sleep. He felt they were babying him, something they had done to their terrifying younger brother before. It was probably only natural that Gaara would respond in a way he never acted before; he would act like the baby. He would play the role of a stubborn child, he would make it harder for them- do everything he could to distract them, asking them why and how and tripping them up at every corner.

Temari gave in and played the game racking her brain for something, anything the two older siblings hadn't tried before. Finally a random idea occurred to her, she'd already tried everything else so why not. "I'll sing you a lullaby." she told him.

Gaara had a highly doubtful look on his face and Temari honestly couldn't blame him. Still she told him she'd sing to him so sing to him she would. Gaara obediently closed his eyes once more. Clearing her throat and feeling somewhat foolish she began to sing a lullaby she'd heard once before:

Rock-a-by baby on the tree top,

When the wind blows and cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

She waited. This time it only took five seconds before Gaara opened his eyes. "That's a lullaby?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"It's kind of violent for a lullaby." He stated. Seeing her puzzled look he added, "It has falling babies."

She honestly didn't know what to say to that. "I only heard it once; maybe it has another verse about the mother catching the baby."

"Does it explain how the baby got in the tree?" Now he was just being difficult. Temari didn't bother answering if a hypothetical second verse would address such an issue. "Where did you hear it?" Gaara asked after the brother and sister had sat in silence for a moment.

"Hmm," said Temari her mind already trying to come out with another scheme to make Gaara sleep. "Oh, just at an inn we were staying at. This woman, I think she was a foreigner, I heard her sing it to her baby. I remembered it I guess because I liked the idea of the wind rocking one to sleep. I never really thought about the plotting issues."

Gaara nodded then suddenly tipped his head to one side listing and announced "Kankuro's back." Temari waited: she knew their middle brother would announce his presence soon enough. It was a well known fact in their household that when ever Kankuro came home from late at night from missions he seemed to leave his stealth skills behind. It defied all logic how such as a master of stealth could be so incapable of making it from the front door to his bedroom without running into the furniture, occasionally even more that once. The master puppeteer, who could move in unfamiliar pitch black environments without ever making his presence known, was apparently unable to make it through his_ own_ family room in the dark.

This night was no exception. Temari didn't have to listen long before she heard the all too familiar sound of Kankuro crashing into a lamp. And after moment pause she heard him swear at the offending light fixture. Perhaps it was the same character quirk as the sudden clumsiness but Kankuro was also incapable of remembering to keep his voice down when swearing at offending pieces of furniture. Often Temari, a light sleeper like any successful ninja, would awake to the sound of Kankuro tripping over something wait for him to insult the parentage their furnishings, and then close her eyes.

Temari and Gaara paused and listened. After the lamp Kankuro managed to run into a wall (an illegitimate wall apparently) of all things and then make it to his room. Once he made it in his room the clumsiness had passed. Kankuro's room was often mess with clothes and puppet parts and even sharp kunai all over the floor but he the only time he ever tripped over them was on rushed mornings when Temari was yelling at him to hurry up and standing in the doorway, then he would catch his foot on a puppet part and fall flat on his face.

Temari and Gaara heard Kankuro turn on the shower then brought their attention back to each other. Neither one spoke and there seemed to be an unspoken "now what" in the air. Finally Gaara broke the silence asking her, "Anymore ideas?"

"I'm all out of lullabies." Temari admitted. She was also fresh out of ideas. She needed to come up with some way to let Gaara get relaxed long enough for his bodies need for sleep to draw him under. Then she had idea. Not a really good one mind you, but it was late and she was tired and she was willing to try anything. "I tell you what, you try to sleep and I'll come up with a second verse."

Gaara gave her a look very similar to the one he'd given her when she first proposed the lullaby idea. But once more he lay down and closed his eyes. Surprised that he was actually cooperating Temari dutifully tried to come up with a second verse. She quickly gave up on trying using the tune of 'rockaby baby' as it was just too hard. Instead she focused on trying to rhyme a line about catching the baby. A tune from an old song entered her head and without realizing it she set her verse it.

It took her a little while. Silence descended over the room. Temari racked her brain trying to find a good rhyme for arms, while Gaara lay their with his eyes closed and let his mind wander. Finally Temari finished. She noticed that Gaara finally looked relaxed, his breathing was even starting to slow. Trying hard not to disturb him, Temari sang her lullaby. First she sang rockaby baby. Then she added her new verse:

Fall gently my baby, fall into my arms

I'm nearby to catch you so raise no alarms

I'll stay by your side while dreams you embrace

as night slowly passes till sun shows his face.

It wasn't the greatest, but Temari was a professional ninja, not a poet or lyrist and she'd composed it under ten minuets. She was actually somewhat proud of her attempt.

"What was that," a voice whispered behind her. Temari turned to find Kankuro, a master of stealth once more, standing in the doorway, his hair still wet from the shower.

"A lullaby I created," she quietly replied.

Kankuro opened his mouth, no doubt to criticize it. But before the puppeteer could make a sound a half-awake voice said, "Sing it again."

Temari obeyed her youngerest brother's wishes. By the time she finished Gaara had at last succumbed to sleep.

"Nice song," Kankuro told her. She still could hear the sarcasm though he whispered.

She didn't bother defending it, just shrugged and said, "Whatever works." This had become their motto for getting Gaara to sleep. Why just last week she caught Kankuro telling him a bedtime story.

"You should go to bed too," Kankuro told her from the doorway. Didn't he know it was her job to be the bossy older sibling.

"I'll stay in case he wakes up," Temari told him as she abandoned her chair for the floor. "Next time it's your turn to get him to sleep," She added as she suppressed a yawn.

Kankuro gave a distracted nod but didn't make a move to head back to his room. Temari might figured out that tripping over things was Kankuro's subconscious or perhaps fully conscious way letting his family know he made it home safe from late night missions, but for all her observation skills and women's intuition she hadn't figured out that it was only on nights when the mission didn't go well, (usually he had a close call but every so often it was because he had to do something that didn't sit quite well with him morally) that he became extra clumsy and hit an addition piece of furniture giving him another excuse to loudly swear.

This first sign of trouble might have sailed over Temari's head but now she noticed how her middle brother stood a mere shadow in the doorway, neither entering nor leaving but waiting for something. "How was your mission?" she asked.

"Alright," he said and she knew instantly that he was lying. At last he left the doorway and entered the room sitting on the floor next to her.

It seemed her job as a big sister was not done for the night. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he answered quickly. He sat next to her one the floor. The two sat in silence, in the dark with Gaara ironically the only one sleeping. At last when Temari was fighting to keep own body from relaxing and falling asleep- she could see Kankuro was still tense- did he slowly start talking.

* * *

When Gaara woke up he was not surprised to find Temari curled up on the floor at the side of his bed. He was expecting she would still be in his room. He was not expecting to find Kankuro also sleeping on the floor by the foot of his bed, but it was not that surprising. Kakuro liked to seek out his siblings after difficult missions and Gaara had known the previous morning when he'd assigned the mission that it would not be an easy one, but it had to be done. Gaara hadn't told Temari but he no intention of sleeping last night until he was sure Kankuro made it home safe. 

Stepping carefully over their sleeping forms, Gaara made his way to the hall closet and fetched two blankets. Of course being trained ninjas the he inevitably awoke them as he covered them, but Temari merely mumbled out something unintelligible and Kankuro smiled sleepy, before they each let sleep draw them back under.

Gaara left them and headed out to the balcony observing the rising sun. He was now refreshed and ready to start the day.

In all likelihood he wouldn't sleep this night and the following night it would probably be Kankuro trying anything and everything till either the Kazakage fell asleep, or morning dawned. Gaara knew that sleeping would be constant struggle for him night after night. But that is how his two stubborn siblings would take it: one night at a time. Who knew how many warm glasses of milk, bedtime stories, lullabies or a million other sleep readies would be tried on those long nights. But he knew that the two now resting in his room would stick it out with him. He might easily get annoyed at their pushiness and the way the babied him over sleep, but he was grateful to the have them, grateful that they cared. It was with these thoughts in his mind that Gaara headed for his office ready to tackle the difficulties of leading Sunakuge once more.

AN: After reading so much of it I finally wrote my own piece of sand sib fluff. I first started this story at work while doing a relatively brainless task. For some reason (I blame the methanol and acetic acid fumes) I started thinking about the lullaby rock-a-by baby and how it has falling babies. From there came the scene between Temari and Gaara and the rest of the story eventually followed. Some parts were better than others but overall I'm happy with the result. Apparently there really are more verses to Rock-a-by Baby, I discovered later (although they don't say how the baby got in tree and according to legend came later and are not part of the original poem) but I like Temari's attempt at a second verse so I decided to leave it as is.


End file.
